The National Alliance for the Development of Community Advice Offices (Nadcao) is committed to the development and long-term
sustainability of Community Advice Offices (CAOs). Nadcao was formed as an alliance of human rights organisations in 2005,
supported by several key donors including the CS Mott Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies and the Foundation for Human Rights.

Introduction On 9th-13th March 2015 ACAOSA partnered with the Black Sash to convene the first annualRead more

About Us

The National Alliance for the Development of Community Advice Offices (Nadcao) is committed to the development and long-term sustainability of Community Advice Offices (CAOs). Nadcao was formed as an alliance of human rights organisations in 2005, supported by several key donors including the CS Mott Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies and the Foundation for Human Rights.

These donors were concerned about the fragmented and weakened state of the community advice office sector. They began to initialise processes that would help secure long-term support to community advice offices as a sustainable way of ensuring access to justice within poor and marginalised communities.

Currently, Nadcao works with 312 CAOs in all 9 provinces throughout South Africa.

Communication Skills

INTERVIEWING CLIENTS

COUNSELLING

LETTER WRITING

TAKING A STATEMENT

REFERRALS

REPORT WRITING

AFFIDAVITS

TELEPHONE CALLS

USING MEDIA

Administrative Skills

FILING

TIME MANAGEMENT

BOOKKEEPING

MEETINGS

Development Skills

NEGOTIATION

MEDIATION

ARBITRATION

FACILITATION

Partners

Nadcao has established partnerships with organisations that support the vision for a consolidated and
sustainable community advice office sector. The following partnerships are providing crucial support.

Programmes

Despite the vital role of CAOs in South Africa, the vast majority of these offices receive little-to-no state support for their work. The majority of offices rely on donor funding from international or local grantmakers and generate their own income through various community-based projects.

CAOs offer free advice services and operate predominantly in poor and marginalised communities. They struggle to maintain operations solely from donations and local income generation due to an unstable economic base in many of these communities.

Though donor funding helps fulfil the majority of CAO activities, funding support is inconsistent and not evenly distributed in the country. A lack of sustainable funding has caused many CAOs to close, while others continue to operate with minimal resources.

In order for people in poor and marginalised communities in South Africa to have access to reliable and effective CAOs, the sector requires a sustained and comprehensive national funding mechanism.

The establishment of such a mechanism is one of Nadcao’s key strategic objectives for 2013.

The CAO sector requires a consistent funding base that would provide long-term financial security and sustainability. This reliable funding base would enable community advice offices to provide a more reliable and permanent service to their clientele.

The creation of a dedicated fund for the long-term sustainability of the CAO sector offers a number of opportunities:

• Common donor objectives focused on the improvement of communities, access to justice and building civil society can be aligned in a single funding mechanism;• Creation of a fund specifically aimed at addressing the unique funding needs and requirements of CAOs;• Pooling of resources, administration and monitoring processes; andSimplifies funding application and reporting process for CAOs.

Donors and organisations began meeting in mid-2011 to discuss the process of a donor partnership and secure ways to advance the process to enable the establishment of a sustainable fund. These organisations include:

In addition to serving the immediate needs of donors and the general advice office sector, the sustainability fund will demonstrate that it can:• Efficiently identify beneficiaries and deliver resources and support to those beneficiaries; and• Provide the additional benefit of improved performance and impact of the sector.

The provincial forums are non-profit umbrella organisations representing CAOs in all 9 provinces in South Africa. Each provincial forum is independent and has an Executive Committee. These Committees represent the AOs in their respective provinces and create partnerships with relevant stakeholders for provincial funding.

At the 2012 year-end Nadcao national meeting, the National Working Committees agreed that in order to achieve the realisable dream of having an institutionalised advice office structure by 2013, an interim organisational advice office structure would need to be in place.

As part of the sector institutionalisation process, members agreed to form a new membership organisation to serve as the national voice of the CAO sector: the Association of Community-based Advice Office of South Africa (ACAOSA).

ACAOSA will serve as an operational body, unifying the sector through national leadership and committees. The organisation will work effortlessly to act as the national voice for community-based advice offices, focusing on the interests and issues that impact the current 320+ advice offices in all 9 provinces.

ACAOSA will benefit the sector through:

Streamlined communication from the national level to the individual CAOs;
Unified campaigns and strategic opportunities;
Strengthened interaction and networks;
Regulating the quality and standard of training;
Increased participation;
Fundraising support; and
Involvement in leadership processes.

ACAOSA brochure

This brochure provides insight into the newly formed organisation, ACAOSA, including its vision, objectives and goals for the future of the CAO sector.
Click here to download (pdf 278KB)

Kopanong Report

This report details Nadcao’s 2012 national evaluation and reporting workshop held in Johannesburg. Along with recapping Nadcao’s progress over the year, the workshop was instrumental as members agreed that in order to fulfil its goal of an institutionalised advice office structure by 2013, an organisation would need to be formed. It was at this workshop where members agreed to develop the ACAOSA structure.
Click here to download (pdf 2.6MB)